Women's Volleyball

Gauchos Fall in Opening Round of USD Invite

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -
The UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball team got off to a rough start in the 2010 USD Invitational, falling to No. 12 Minnesota in straight sets, 25-12, 25-23, and 25-16 Friday night at Peterson Gymnasium on the campus of San Diego State.

Charlene DeHoog paved the way for UCSB (5-5), connecting with nine kills on top of five digs. Dana Vargas dished out 26 assists on the night, however, she could only help her team to a .067 overall hitting percentage. Stacey Schmidt followed with six kills while Kara Sherrard added five more.

Before the night's match, DeHoog had posted three consecutive double-doubles, yet Minnesota was able to keep DeHoog to just 9.0 total points on the night. The Gauchos mustered a .154 team hitting percentage in the first set, logging 10 errors with only six kills.

Minnesota out-blocked UCSB, 15-4.

Friday night's matched featured two of women's volleyball legendary coaches as Kathy Gregory (No. 4 on the Division I active wins list with 836) and Mike Hebert (No. 3 with 875) faced off. The duo has combined for 1,711 victories.

The Gauchos return to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. against No. 23 San Diego at Jenny Craig Pavilion. UCSB will play its second leg at 7 p.m. against San Diego State in Peterson Gym.